The San Jose Sharks have been the NHL’s worst team this month. Which is strange, because they were the league’s best team last month.

So, what’s happened?

According to head coach Todd McLellan, the message is still getting through to the players.

“There’s always talk about whether you have ‘lost the room,'” McLellan said, per the Mercury News. “You hear people use that phrase about losing your players’ attention or about a team losing confidence, and I always wonder, where does that happen — do you lose it at the mall? I’ve been in hockey a while. I think you know when you’ve lost the room. I don’t think that’s happened.”

Here’s what Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy thinks is wrong:

The issue is secondary scoring. It has been absent in a significant way, really, since the beginning of last season after Wilson sent forwards Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi to Minnesota — and in return essentially received defenseman Brent Burns and winger Martin Havlat. Burns and Havlat haven’t been terrible. They have just been either frequently mediocre or frequently injured.

In fact, the Sharks have scored just 12 goals in their last 10 games. Obviously, that’s not good.

But with 283 shots taken during that stretch, it means opposition goalies have combined for a save percentage of .958, which not even Craig Anderson (.952) can match.

What a load…next time McClellan straps on the pads and skates, then point fingers! In the meantime, ask the non-producing players why they’re pulling big money to go figure skating each night. And, to my recollection, coaches do most of their coaching during practice sessions with in-game adjustments accordingly. The so called room is the player’s domain, so if the room’s gone missing, look no further than player leadership also missing in action!

As an avs fan, I am very nervous about this game. The avs defense is too inconsistent. Wilson and Johnson need to get heathy. Barrie and Elliot aren’t quite NHL caliber players. They do make occasional plays, however their cons outweigh their pros. Lets just hope our offense can get pucks to the net (and not blow the lead).